Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a prior art light fixture mounting system will be described. The prior art mounting system generally comprises a crossbar 10, mounting screws 13, a nipple 18, a lock nut 19 and a collar loop 20. The crossbar 10 is mounted to a light fixture box or the like (not shown) by inserting the mounting screws 13 into slotted holes 12 or alternate holes 14 of the crossbar 10. The nipple 18 is screwed into the central hole 16 of the crossbar 10 and the lock nut 19 is screwed onto the nipple 18 until it rests against the crossbar 10. The collar loop 20 is then threaded onto the nipple 18 and the light fixture is hung on the collar loop 20, most often via an open chain link (not shown) connected to the mounting loop 24. The light fixture is wired in a known manner and then the canopy 22 of the light fixture is positioned about the threads 21 of the collar loop 20 and secured by tightening the nut 23 of the collar loop 20.
While the prior art systems may initially secure the lighting fixture, there is a risk that the threaded connection between the nipple 18 and the collar loop 20 or the connection between the nipple 18 and the crossbar 10 may become disconnected whereby the lighting fixture may fall. This is a problem that is sometimes the result of cleaning, adjustment or other movement of the light fixture, which sometimes causes the nipple 18 to rotate and to thereby unscrew from the collar thread or crossbar 10. Additionally, the prior art system sometimes poses installation difficulties because the size of the nipple 18 can cause the canopy 22 to be less than tightly placed against the ceiling above the light fixture box or can cause the collar loop 20 to be less than tightly placed below the canopy 22. These placement difficulties are often not apparent or determined until after the installation is complete requiring disassembly to correct or adjust the nipple size.